What kind of external hard drive to get?

[Glenn Sakatch]

Any external drive will work well with Avid…based on how you use Avid. Offline resolution only? USB2 will probably work. Higher resolution…might want to jump up to Firewire or USB3, or Esata. I would assume you’ll need to install a USB3 or Esata card in the system. (you didn’t say much about your specs)

I have a 2009 Mac Pro, running with all four internal slots filled, as well as the second dvd bay occupying a hard drive. You could always swap out your internal drives for larger drives.

I also have a 5 bay hardware raid via Esata, which I use with no problems, and a second 4 bay raid that runs both Esata and USB3. If you plan to install Esata, do yourself a favour and buy a good card, not a cheap 20 dollar interface…you will notice the difference.

Glenn

[Ross Spears]

Thanks, Glenn, for the information. So, would a G Raid external hard drive work well? And could more than one of them be used?

Also, pardon my ignorance here, but what is esata and how does it work? Is it difficult to install? My computer is a 2010 version of MacPro and does not have USP 3. But I do have firewire, of course.

Thanks for your help!

Ross

Never Give Up

[Glenn Sakatch]

I’ve used more than 1 gDrive Firewire daisy chained together without any problems. Haven’ used a GRaid. I personally find them a bit over priced.

Esata is just another interface…basically an external version of the sata that is already inside your computer. Usually allows hot swapping of drives. The better cards will cost you 100 dollars or so to function properly. Same idea as any other drive setup. If you can build an esata raid, the more drives you can throw at it, the faster speeds you’ll get out of it. I have an old sonnet with 5 x 2tb, (non raided) and it hits around 450 to 500 on the speed disk check.

Glenn